Will Hungary use facial recognition at Pride and is it legal?

LONDON - Hungary has passed a new law that bans Pride events, fines those who attend and proposes using facial recognition to identify those taking part, putting the country at odds with European Union laws.

Organisers of Budapest Pride, due to take place in June, say the event will still go ahead.

Legal and digital rights experts say identifying Pride participants using facial recognition technology would be illegal under the EU's stringent General Data Protection Regulation and the European Union's AI Act.

However, it is unclear whether Hungarian authorities will enforce the new law or whether European pressure will lead them to back down.

"Hungarian courts have been accused of lacking independence in recent years, and whether or not they have the will to do this matters," Michael Veale, professor of digital rights and regulation at University College London, said.

Here's what you need to know:

What does the new law say?

The new law, passed on March 18, says it is prohibited to "hold an assembly that violates the ban set out in the law on the protection of children".

Pride events fall within the definition of such an assembly, with supporters of the law saying they pose a risk to children.

According to the law, anyone who attends Pride LGBTQ+ events could be fined up to 500 euros ($540).

Orban, in power since 2010, promotes a Christian-conservative agenda and in 2021 banned the "promotion of homosexuality" among under-18s.

What facial recognition technology does Hungary have?

Hungary has approximately 35,000 CCTV cameras networked as a single searchable system called Dragonfly, according to research by the European Parliament group mainly composed of green political parties.

Dragonfly, run by the state, collects biometric data and allows police to identify people from their faces.

In Budapest alone, there are over 10,000 cameras powered by Chinese tech giant Huawei, which makes AI-powered surveillance, according to Shodan, a search engine that locates Internet-connected devices.

Is Hungary's use of facial recognition legal?

A European Commission spokesperson said using artificial intelligence for facial recognition during or after a Pride event would be illegal under the EU's General Data Protection

Regulation, which states that processing biometric data can only be done under conditions including the individuals explicit consent or where there is a substantial public interest.

Real-time facial recognition of Pride participants would also breach the EU AI Act, the spokesperson said. The rules in the act on post-event recognition will only apply from August.

Veale said Hungary may argue that its aim to protect children justified the use facial recognition, but this would be "unlikely to be a valid reading under the Charter of Fundamental Rights".

Hungary could also run into issues with the European Convention on Human Rights, said Colm O'Cinneide, professor of constitutional and human rights law at University College London, because of the discriminatory nature of the ban and the use of surveillance tech without a danger to public order.

What can the EU do if Hungary breaches the rules?

The European Commission spokesperson said the bloc was conducting an analysis of the Hungarian law, but did not say when it would reach a conclusion.

Breaching the EU AI Act can result in fines of up to 35 million euros ($37.74 million), but Veale said a Hungarian court order preventing the government from proceeding with the ban would be most effective.

"If the Hungarian courts refused to uphold the law however, the commission might take infringement proceedings against (Hungary) for not implementing European law," Veale said.

However, European actions against Hungary's anti-LGBTQ+ laws can take years. A Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) infringement hearing against Hungary's 2021 anti-LGBTQ legislation was only heard in November last year.

"Even the best laws are powerless if people choose not to obey them and choose not to enforce them," said Sandra Wachter, professor of technology and regulation at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute.

"The AI Act has provisions in place to deal with breaches ... But this requires political will"

What have rights groups said?

David Vig, the director of Amnesty International Hungary, said the law must be repealed.

"It is a tool in the hands of the government to strengthen a Big Brother-like state (that) infringes fundamental rights to (the) privacy of every person," he told Context via email.

Rémy Bonny, executive director of the LGBTQ organisation Forbidden Colours, predicted Budapest Pride would still go ahead.

"The organisers are used to living with the fear of being surveilled for many years already. It will take part no matter what."

($1 = 0.9274 euros)

(Reporting by Adam Smith; Editing by Jon Hemming)